Good morning; here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• Which Basin Led in New Drilling Permits?

• Sworn Enemies Join Forces

• Tweet of the Day

Which Basin Led in New Drilling Permits?

The Permian led a surge in new drilling permits issued for the Lower 48 last month, cementing its reputation as the star of the U.S. shale patch.

No wonder the Permian is also the hotspot for new dealmaking.

Oil’s not backing down

Despite government efforts to reduce U.S. oil and gas consumption—and production—the industry is going strong.

March saw more than 4,400 new drilling permits issued for onshore drilling, according to Evercore ISI.

The number was a whopping 52% increase in February and a no less impressive 35% rise on March 2022.

Of this total, 36% of the new permits were issued for drilling in the Permian—by far the biggest portion anyone play had in the total.

Oh, and by the way, guess which state saw a surge in new drilling permits from 12 in February to 465 in March?

California.

The sunshine state was third after the Permian and Wyoming.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Bring on the deals

Oil prices have slumped in the past couple of weeks, but this has not dampened the appetite for M&A.

Potential buyers are focused on the Permian, with their coffers full from those “windfall” profits that irritated the green lobby.

"I think we're in a good spot in terms of oil pricing for M&A; somewhere around $80 per barrel is where both buyers and sellers feel comfortable," Enverus director Andrew Dittmar told Reuters recently.

No wonder Energy Partners just coughed up $1.45 billion for Lotus Midstream Operations.

Energy Partners knows which way the wind is blowing

It’s blowing due to Permian.

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Sworn Enemies Join Forces

A most unlikely alliance has emerged in the U.S. energy industry, with Big Oil and Big Renewables teaming up to lobby Congress for shorter permit times.

Both fossil fuel producers and wind and solar developers have long been frustrated with the lengthy and cumbersome procedures for approving new projects.

They have had enough.

Whodathunkit?

Nobody really, since oil and gas, on the one hand, and wind and solar, on the other, compete on the same playing field.

What’s more, wind and solar have had a lot more support from the federal and some state governments.

And that’s putting it mildly—the Biden administration has been actively discouraging the oil and gas industry from expanding.

Yeah, even as President Biden was calling on the industry to pump more oil.

No cognitive dissonance whatsoever.

Yet it seems that at the same time, the administration has been putting spokes in the wheels of its own much-hyped energy transition.

What gives?

Fight the bureaucracy

“In the last several months, all the key associations looked across the table and realized we were arguing for the same thing.”

The statement comes from James Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association.

Mr. Grumet also said that “This is Big Wind and Big Solar coming to the table and saying we want to get things done.”

The plan is to clinch a permitting reform deal from Congress during the ongoing debt ceiling discussions.

Before that, though, Big Oil and Big Renewables would need to settle their differences and find a middle ground that suits the interests of both parties.

That’s going to be a tough one, but stranger things have happened.

Around the Global Patch

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🇷🇺 How cheap oil is helping Russia win India's market over OPEC.

Tweet of the Day

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